***18 YEARS AGO***

It was amazing how quickly fortifications could appear when people were determined. The walls and barracks had been the first things built, in fact, but only now had the things that made a town a home been laid down. The inn. Homes. Businesses.

And the tower that would be her residence and study all at once.

Jaina ran her fingers along the wooden railing as she looked down the stairs and ramps to the floor far below. This wasn't home yet, but it was a good start. She just needed to make it feel more comfortable, make it feel more like herself. Her things from Dalaran and… well, she doubted her mother would send her anything even if she asked. So Dalaran it would have to be.

She walked over to a bare shelf, pulling something out of her pocket. It was a small carved ship, something she often carried with her for luck when she was traveling. She'd survived the Plague and all that came after; as she stared at it, she wondered if the luck had run out after all that.

"It's official."

She turned at the gruff voice, and smiled at her Kaldorei bodyguard and friend. "I guess it is, Pained. Theramore is officially founded as a neutral port."

"Patrols have nothing to report. We've a few VIPs from the Alliance in port and some adventurers have begun to trickle in. I recognize a few from Hyjal."

Jaina nodded, looking around the room again. Except for a few books, the only decor was the little ship. "This feels a little bare boned, doesn't it? It could use a personal touch."

Pained shrugged, and offered Jaina a smile. "I'm sure you'll make it a home, given time."

Leaning back on the railing, Jaina became lost in thought. There was no going back to Kul Tiras. Not after what she'd done. Lordaeron was still unsafe. Stormwind was a place to visit and little more. Dalaran had been the closest thing to home she'd had for most of her life.

She'd led people to this continent, and she had a duty to them. To keep them safe, to give them the chance for happy, fulfilled lives. And maybe find some way to overcome her grief and the terrible memories of the war against the Scourge and the Legion. "Yes. I think you're right. Maybe, someday, nowhere else will feel as much like home as Theramore."

Pained studied her for a moment, and Jaina felt like her heart was being exposed. Then, sighing, as if it were a great imposition, Pained approached Jaina and put her hand on her shoulder. "Home isn't the place you set your hearthstone to, Lady. Home is your people."

"What would I do without you?" Jaina asked, putting her hand over Pained's.

"You'd be dead."

"You know what I mean." She eyed the Kaldorei, wondering why she'd chosen to stay with her instead of returning to her people, but didn't really have the heart to ask. Jaina had few enough friends at the moment and didn't want to give Pained an excuse to leave her.

Probably not the healthiest feeling, but Jaina had never been known for having healthy feelings. She leaned in, wrapping her arms around Pained and resting her head on her shoulder.

After a moment's hesitation, Pained returned the hug. "Maybe this assignment won't be so bad."

"So you do take payments in hugs," Jaina murmured, teasingly. "Imagine what that would do to your reputation if it got out."

"Remember what I said about your dying?"

Grinning, Jaina pulled away. "Come on. Let's give Theramore her first proper inspection."

"Please tell me I get to make sure everything is in line?"

"You just want to hit people who aren't up to snuff."

"...Maybe."

****NOW****

Only a few minutes passed between the collapse of the keep and the Warlocks' demons digging them out, but in that time the battle had shifted against Stormwind. There was chaos in the streets, fire spreading through the Dwarven district, and the docks had been obliterated by Naga and their sea giants.

Just about the only major building untouched was the Cathedral, and so that was where most of the civilians who hadn't been taken to shelter were directed.

Ordering Genn to retake the docks, Anduin personally led the counter-attack, fighting creatures of shadow and Naga street by street and building by building until, many long hours later, the last of the attackers were routed.

Efforts immediately split between putting out the fires and search and rescue, Anduin again leading much of the latter. By the time he was able to sit down and rest his aching back, he was certain he'd worn his feet down to stumps.

He gestured at a passing Draenei mage, waving a sheet of paper at the Champion. "Velshada, come here. Are you able to travel?"

She rubbed the base of her horns like she was fighting a headache, but gave a weak thumbs-up in his direction. After a moment she actually glanced up and realized who was addressing her, and her eyes widened. "Gah! I-yeah. Yes! Your Majesty."

"Good. I need to know how the rest of the Alliance fared and they need to know our status. Can you deliver this missive to Ironforge, Kaldrassil, and Boralus?"

She nodded hastily. "I can. I don't suppose there's time to...It's just…" She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder. "Talet's wife was in Ironforge, sir."

"I know." And frankly, Anduin was loath to separate Velshada from her mentor, especially before sending her through an unsecured portal. But he couldn't afford to pull a Worgen's senses off search-and-rescue along the coast, either. "I'm afraid she's needed where she is. We're all waiting for word of loved ones right now."

The mage nodded sharply. "I'll get started on that then, Your Majesty."

"Thank you. Return to Stormwind once you're done, and pay attention to what you see. I want more than the official status, I also want your perspective."

Velshada nodded again and took the status report from the King, then turned and whistled sharply.

A dusky nightsaber leapt down from the roof of a nearby building, springboarding off a pile of rubble and shifting into a white stag as it landed. The maneuver would have been flowing and impressive if the druid hadn't immediately skidded out of control across the cobblestones as she lost the traction of a cat's pawpads. Miraculously, the stag managed to brake before running down an unfazed Velshada. She pressed a casual kiss to the stag's neck and hopped onto its back, and the druid surged forward. They disappeared through a portal to Ironforge just before they would have slammed into the wall.

Anduin shook his head in bemusement. "Champions. Daredevils, the lot of them."

"Some of us are a little less crazy than others, your majesty." A raven-haired mage bowed her head to him. Her robes looked as worn and haggard as he felt.

He remembered her and the Worgen male next to her digging through some rubble with him earlier and nodded at them in greeting.

Smiling tiredly, she continued. "We have a message from the Kirin Tor."

Forcing himself to stand, Anduin considered the statement. It couldn't have been too urgent if they'd helped with rescue efforts rather than try to deliver it first. "What is it?"

It was the Worgen who spoke first. "There was an attempt by cultists to bring Dalaran crashing to the ground." He bared his teeth. "They suffered more damage than the city."

"What Korvand means is that we took care of that threat. But something else happened just prior to the attack." The mage flexed her fingers, then rubbed at a cut on her hand. "Jaina Proudmoore teleported in, ripped the magical wards to shreds and raided the vault. It was fascinating, really. Usually she's all finesse, but I suppose she was in a hurry and had to rely on brute force. I could probably spend hours just studying-"

Korvand poked her in the shoulder. "Lissibeth, honey, focus."

"Right! She stole the Focusing Iris."

Anduin stared at her, then shook his head. "Jaina did what?"

"Oh, don't worry, the Iris was recovered and returned to Dalaran. It's pretty easy to track, considering the level of power it exudes." Lissibeth's expression darkened as she folded her arms across herself. "But that was all we could find."

Anduin felt sick. "Please tell me Orgrimmar wasn't-"

"Orgrimmar stands," Korvand assured him, and Anduin remembered how to breathe.

This wasn't a conversation for public ears, and he didn't want to wait for Genn. He gestured for them to follow him. "Come with me somewhere private. I need you to tell me everything you know about what happened in Orgrimmar."

There weren't too many places left where Anduin felt comfortable talking about sensitive matters, but he led them to Trias's cheese shop, and through a false door into the basement where Mathias Shaw had so often read him intelligence. No one in SI:7 was present, and it was the best place for top secret discussion until the Keep could be repaired.

He leaned against a table as Lissibeth sagged against Korvand, clearly as weary as he felt. He nudged a bowl of cheese towards them. "So what happened."

"Once the cultist situation was mopped up, my husband and I portaled to Orgrimmar." Lissibeth picked up a piece of cheese. "The barrier Proudmoore put up had failed by then. The people we spoke to told us that the battle had been intense."

Korvand nodded. "Lady Proudmoore led the defense personally and fought on the front lines."

"Do you know the status of Ravenwing's legion?"

"The gunship crashed into the gates I think, but everything was too hectic to get a casualty list." Korvand shrugged. "I think she was alive."

Lissibeth spoke up, at once excited about the subject and yet somehow withdrawn at the same time. "The city was overwhelmed, that's why she took the Focusing Iris. She supercharged her spells and called up a wave bigger than Orgrimmar! It must have been amazing to witness. I could feel it still, this could change our understanding of-"

Anduin held up his hands. It was a miracle they weren't shaking. "Thank you. You… don't need to finish. She shielded Orgrimmar and washed away the attackers. And now she's missing, isn't she."

Abashed, Lissibeth replied. "Yes, sir."

"Do you believe she's dead?"

"No."

"Yes."

Lissibeth shot Korvand a look. "Until there's a body, she's not dead."

"No one could have survived that wave. Even most of the Horde are convinced she's gone. They were practically planning her memorial while we were searching for the Iris."

"You've never met her. I have. Jaina is powerful and kind, and more stubborn than you are on a bad day." Lissibeth turned from her husband to look at Anduin imploringly. "You know her better than anyone, do you think she'd let a little dampness get the better of her?"

"No, Jaina is tougher than that." But to summon that kind of power?

Anduin didn't want to think about her dying. She was his friend, as close to living family as he had left.

But he was also the King of Stormwind, the High King of the Alliance, and as much as he wanted to cling to that hope for as long as there was a fraction of a chance, he couldn't afford that luxury. Not when the fate of both the Alliance and Horde rested on what he and Sylvanas did next.

He tried to take solace in the Light, and kept his voice even. "Thank you. Try and get some rest before you return to Dalaran."

"We'll stick around a few days. There are going to be more people who need help." Korvand's rested his hand on Lissibeth's back, gentle with his claws. "Dalaran can do without us for a little while."

Lissibeth bowed and excused them, taking Korvand's hand and quickly heading up the stairs.

Anduin lingered, allowing himself just a few minutes to be alone, a few minutes to feel the pain in his chest that was threatening to burst out of his eyes. Jaina couldn't be dead. She couldn't be.

But if she was, then he wondered if the bridges she'd built would be enough to keep the Horde and Alliance from going right back to tearing out each other's throats.

If it really was that easy, then the entire thing had been a fool's endeavour all along.

Sliding down the wall, Anduin didn't feel much like a king or an adult. He felt lost, and a little terrified; and if he was honest with himself that had been his default state of being since his father had died nearly six years ago.

Jaina had always been someone he'd looked up to. Watching her find some kind of peace within herself had made him happy for her, even as he'd remained somewhat concerned as to the status of her relationship with Sylvanas.

In a time like this, he would have turned to Jaina, for comfort and advice. He loved Genn like an uncle, but comfort and advice was not exactly his strong suit.

But Jaina was gone and the world stood once again on the precipice.

His vision became blurry. He just needed a moment. Just one more moment to mourn.

Sylvanas stood in Jaina's office, slowly turning around and taking it all in as if it, somehow, could explain to her what exactly had happened and tell her where Jaina was. She barely felt Varian climb her legs and back until his weight became a warm comfort on her shoulders. Absently, she reached up to rub one of his ears.

"Do you understand, I wonder?"

She stopped herself before she continued. Before she admitted that Jaina was actually gone.

Varian purred in her ear, kneading his paws into her shoulder and snuggling close around her neck. As if he did know. Or at least understand that Sylvanas's thoughts were a turmoil and her emotions not dull as they should be, but in sharp relief.

There was no body, she told herself. If there was no body, then Jaina could still be alive. Or captured. Of course, with the power at her disposal, capturing Jaina Proudmoore was no easy task; Sylvanas had needed a hundred and seven pages of treaty to do it herself, after all.

And yet to summon such a wave, pull off a mass precision teleportation, and shield Orgrimmar in the same instant, Jaina would have had to expend an enormous amount of power even accounting for the Focusing Iris. Enough to render her easily capturable.

Enough, frankly, to kill her even without drowning in the wave.

Varian mewled questioningly.

"I'd almost forgotten what this felt like." This tightening in her chest, this feeling of being rudderless and adrift. The last thing Sylvanas had ever expected to feel again was this sense of loss that she refused to put words to.

Sylvanas Windrunner did not feel. Did not grieve.

"Mother."

Slowly, she turned towards the elevator, barely noticing or caring if Kalira was alone or not. "What is it?"

"We've word from the other Horde capitals."

"Well?" She snapped. "Get on with it."

Kalira narrowed her eyes. "Thunder Bluff took significant casualties among their warriors, but remains standing. Suramar received timely aid from a group of Kaldorei sentinels and was relatively undamaged. The First Arcanist believes the attack there was meant to be a diversion of some kind and is attempting to ascertain if anything else happened while they were occupied with the defense."

Suramar was home to numerous powerful relics and leylines; Thalyssra's instincts were probably on point and Sylvanas filed the information away to think about later. "Silvermoon?"

"Untouched, but Naga made an attempt on the Sunwell. It was repelled, with losses."

Sylvanas snorted. "We expected that."

"Highmountain was also ignored."

Lifting Varian off of her shoulders and holding him cradled in her arms as she rubbed his chin, Sylvanas asked, "What of the Alliance?"

"Boralus, you know. Stormwind took the largest attack in the Eastern Kingdoms and they are still trying to determine how bad it is. There's no information from our sources in Ironforge or Gnomeregan yet, but Kaldrassil stands."

"Pity. I do enjoy a good bonfire." Sylvanas walked towards the elevator and stepped inside. "The Exodar?"

Kalira joined her. "It exploded."

Sylvanas very slowly turned her head to Kalira. "The Exodar exploded?"

"Yes. Apparently they lured the invaders inside and then detonated the power core."

"They're going to be spending years cleaning that up." Sylvanas was impressed. It was a bold tactic; they must have learned it from her. "We have our own messes to clear up, but I am sure that we can find some ways to -"

Sylvanas fell silent, her lips twitching downward and her eyes growing faint and small as she realized she was acting as she would were Jaina alive. And that Jaina had managed to influence her enough to actually consider helping the Alliance. Should she help? Would help even be welcome without Proudmoore acting as a buffer?

Or would it all fall apart without that tie that bound the Horde and Alliance?

She stepped out of the elevator and walked into the Hold proper, taking her seat on the throne and leaning back. Varian settled himself in her lap and she stroked her hand over his fur while absently toying with Jaina's anchor.

Movement brought her focus back to the here and now, and she looked up to see Tyra, Kalira and Nathanos standing before her. She let go of the necklace. "Tyra, once we are sure that our own are taken care of, I want you to take a team to Stormwind and have King Wrynn send you where you are most needed to help."

"Warchief," Nathanos interrupted. "Proudmoore is dead and Stormwind burns. The Alliance has clearly taken more damage than we have. This is the perfect opportunity for us to strike and rid ourselves of them once and for all."

Sylvanas shook her head. "No. Not yet." She looked at her daughter. "Put a call out for Champions. Alliance, Horde, it matters not. We should put them to where they are best used."

"Where would that be, mother?"

"Saving the world, of course."